diy wreath

Inspired by trips to the flower mart, I decided to try to make my own wreath this year. I didn't really know what I was doing, but after looking at some Pinterest inspiration and reading a few tutorials, I gave it a shot - and was pretty pleased with the results. It's a little time consuming, and will make a big mess of your living room, but it's not difficult and makes for a nice afternoon project. I highly recommend inviting a friend over and enjoying a little spiked apple cider (it really helps with the hours of wire twisting). I bought my foliage at the SF Flower Mart, but local florists or even well-stocked grocery stores usually carry a good selection at this time of year. Or you can always go foraging for branches in your neighborhood or backyard!

See below for the how-to:

    You will need: 2 wire hangers, thin floral wire, wire cutters, floral tape, and floral shears.

(from left to right) Eucalyptus branches, Tallow Berries, Seeded Eucalyptus, and Olive branches

Tips:

When wiring the branches to the wreath frame, don't worry

too much about keeping the wire neat. No one will see the

back, and most of the wire will be covered up once you add

more foliage (see how messy the back of mine is!).

I wanted to keep a loose, organic feel to my wreath, so I let

some of my branches stick out and be a little wild. You can

use whatever kind of foliage you like, but its good to have

a balance of both dense leaves and more wispy branches. I

used the Eucalyptus foliage to fill out my wreath and cover

up the wire form, and left some of the Olive branches and 

Tallow Berry branches long for their dramatic effect. 

There's really no hard and fast rules, just keep adding more

foliage until you're satisfied with the result!

If you want to make a smaller wreath, you can use just one wire hanger. Bend the hanger into a circle, then twist it into a figure eight shape, and fold the two circles on top of each other. Use floral tape to secure the two circles together into one small circle. 

I tried a small wreath after making the full size one, and if I had to do it again, I just might stick to small. The smaller size was much faster and easier, and the end result is guaranteed to look cute because it's tiny!